Lone Rock was too good in The Goodwood

The Goodwood has been won by Robert Smerdon’s Lone Rock in the feature race at Morphettville today.

The three-year-old filly burst from the centre of the pack in the final straight and surged to a 1.6 length victory.

The filly’s trainer expressed his elation at winning The Goodwood, as well as his admiration of jockey Clare Lindop’s winning ride.

“Credit to Clare (Lindop),” Smerdon said.

“She had done her homework and knew exactly where she wanted to be and carried it off beautifully.”

Smerdon had not originally planned to run Lone Rock in The Goodwood, instead intending to place her in the fillies and mares later in the day.

“She’s been flying this filly and we’ve always been heading towards this race but when I saw the line-up I was tempted to go to the fillies and mares race, the Proud Miss,” Smerdon said.

“But the owner was committed. He said let’s give her the chance. She’s a Group 3 winner but let’s give her a chance in the Group 1.

“She’s a very talented filly. She’s done everything right and had a faultless preparation. We knew we had a chance if everything fell into place.”

The win was the first Group 1 for Lone Rock’s owner Tony Bongiorno.

“It’s a really good result,” Smerdon said.

“He’s a long time client Tony Bongiorno – he’s been with me 20 plus years.

“We’ve had a lot of horses but this is his first Group 1 win.”

Lone Rock has now won three of her 11 race starts and has accrued almost $400,000 in prize money.